A Social Studies Teacher Was Tired of His Black Students Only Identifying With European Culture, So He Did Something About it

Kufere Laing raised money to buy books that helped his seventh and eighth grade social studies students in Detroit “build their identity, something that typical textbooks don’t provide. ‘Often times, the information put in front of Black students isn’t at all relatable,’ he stated. ‘With pre-teens, it’s important to have a lot of work around identity. Who you are in this world, how can we make sense of your experience?’”

One Comment on “A Social Studies Teacher Was Tired of His Black Students Only Identifying With European Culture, So He Did Something About it”

Kufere Laing’s action is honorable and needs applause for his courage and commitment to social change. What remains disheartening is the ignorance and this undercurrent of colorblindness, which truly is the inability to see differences has and continues to harm children of color to advantage White children. I find it challenging to accept in 2017 that there are no options and that bold teachers must step outside the institutionalized oppression to nurture children with positive images and text that provides the richness of their heritage. Enough is enough…